Luke : Day 4

Read Luke 2: 1-21

This is the part of the story you’ve likely heard before! It has been described as ‘A Tale of Two Kings’. The first king is Caesar Augustus, the Roman Emperor. He was the heir of Julius Caesar, who had been declared a god by the Roman Senate after his death. As his adopted son, Augustus was seen as a ‘son of a god’. He was certainly the most powerful man in the world at this time.

But he was mentioned by Luke only as an historical reference. Even though the birth of Jesus in a tiny Judean town went unnoticed by Roman society or politics, this was an indescribably momentous event: the birth of the true Son of God.

One of the big themes of Luke’s gospel is that the good news about Jesus is for the poor and the downtrodden; those who were looked down upon by the elite. By sending his Son into this manger situation, God showed that the good news about Jesus is for all people. By inviting shepherds, who were seen as unimportant, to visit the newborn Saviour, God showed that there are no social or religious requirements to meet. Nobody should feel that they cannot be loved or forgiven by God because they are too insignificant.

This is how the apostle Paul put it in a letter – “for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” Jesus did not arrive in our world as a champion or wealthy celebrity. He was born in the most lowly setting we could imagine, and grew up in an insignificant town as the ‘son of a carpenter’.

But as Luke will reveal, we can have the wealth of knowing peace and forgiveness, being made a child of God, and having eternal life, all through trusting the Son of God.

So whatever your situation, there is no reason for you to stay distant from Him.

“Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you”

Luke 2:11